STEELWINGS

We all come into music with our own baggage. We want different things from the music. How does the vision you had for the band when you started compare to the vision you have for the band today? What is this band really all about? What do you want with your music?
-Oh there’s a big difference in the vision we had when the band started back in 1982 and the vision today. First of all, we where young, full of enthusiasm and energi and worked so hard trying to make it happen for STEELWINGS. That was all we cared for. Today we are more realistic. It was hard to break a band then but it’s even harder today. Of course we want to sell a lot of records and make a lot of money but if that was the only goal, I think we could stop right now. For us it’s all about the love of hardrock/heavy metal music. And that’s why we keep on doing this.

Is there a difference in people’s attitude towards you if you don’t come from a cool place like LA or NY or London?
-Today there’s no cooler place to come from then Sweden if you are a hardrock/heavy metal band. So many good bands hail from Sweden. It was different in the 80’s when everything happend in LA and London. Back then we had a manager from LA and that was so cool!

When you release an album that get pretty good feedback, how do you follow up on that? How important is that I as a fan can identify album to album?
-If an album is doing well and the fans like it, you must have done something right. Keep that in mind when planning a new album. And yes, I think it’s important that you as a fan can recognize a band from one record to another. But you also have to put the music a bit further or else there is a risk of getting boring.

What is the biggest challenge in the creation of an album? How do you write the really cool songs?
-The big challange is to write really cool and rockin’ songs !! There’s no special formula in writing songs. Some songs comes right away and some you have to put in a lot of work on. Often songs that comes easy turns out to bee the best.

I saw Dave Grohl’s documentary about Sound City and it made me wonder what it is about analogue recording that you don’t get with digital? Have you ever recorded analogue?
-With the digital recording teknic you have today I will say there is no big difference in sound between analog and digital recordings. I think it’s more like when you come to a studio with lots of old analog gear and you know that records that you really love has been recorded on that gear, you get inspired by that. When we started recording there was nothing but analog gear but on our latest record there is nearly no analog gear at all.

What is it like to sit there with a finished album? Do you think much what people will think of it?
-Of course it’s nervously waiting for peoples reaction on a new record. And as a musician I don’t think you will ever get 100% satisfied. There’s allways things you hear that could have been better. But in the end, it’s not up to you, it’s up to the listener to decide if it’s good or bad. The best example of this is that Ritchie Blackmore didn’t want to have Smoke On The Water on the record Machinehead. We can all tell he was wrong.

How important are the lyrics and what message do you want to purvey?
-I think it’s important that the lyrics support the songs more than have a specific message. I mean if you have a song with music that gives you the feeling of having a good time, the lyrics can’t be about digging a grave. Not in my case anyway.

Ever since I first got into metal the art work has been a main motivator in buying a record. What part does art work for album covers play in the world of the band?
-The art work is very important. It’s the first thing you get in touch with when you are looking for new records. In a few seconds it has to tell almost everything about the band and the music style.

When you play live do you notice a degree of greater recognition from the fans with each new time you pass through town?
-Definitely ! But it’s up to you as a band. You have to treat you fans with respect and always give them the best you can. Never forget that they pay you for the tickets and your records.

What do you see in the future?
-The coming release of the record BACK has given us lots of positive energy and we are already planning for a new record. In the near future we hope that the release
will give us the opportunity to play live a lot more.